Is it Tele spank or a set up issue?

sidewinderwhy

Hi all,

I have an American Standard Telecaster that I bought new around six months ago- since day one there's been a plinky overtone on the high E string most noticeably at the first and the twelfth fret (apologies for the lack of technical description). There's a little bit of the same on other strings.
 
It's most apparent when it's not plugged in so is maybe a non issue.  Not long after I bought it the shop adjusted it by raising the saddles and the neck relief but a few string changes later it's still there. 

Minor point I know and I love playing it anyway- but keen to know if it is a characteristic, needs a simple adjustment or worth budgeting for a pro set up? 

Cheers

Funkfingers

Presumably, your Tele has the bent steel vintage Stratocaster style saddles. This will lend it a hint of "banjo" wiriness. 

It is possible that the frets need levelling.

It is possible that you would benefit from stepping up to a heavier string gauge. How hard is your picking attack?

sidewinderwhy

This one has the six strat style saddles - I don't notice the same on my other Tele with the threaded steel saddles and three saddle bridge so that might be it? 

I'm using 10s at the moment. it's a touch less noticeable with these compared to 9s and I've noticed it's definitely more banjo twangy the harder I pick. 

Funkfingers

Which tone control circuitry does your Telecaster have -  No-Load or Greasebucket?

Try rotating the tone control just past the bump to 9.5. Does this reduce the unpleasant high frequencies?

sidewinderwhy

It's the no load tone pot I think- there's a notch when you roll up to 10.  I usually always keep it around 8 or 9 as my experience so far is it gets ice picky on 10. 

Funkfingers

Well, that eliminates the electronics from enquiries. 

Next step would be to try substituting saddles of a different material or physical dimensions.

sidewinderwhy

I'd be willing to try some different saddles- any recommendations of what would fit an Am Std? 

TimmyO

It could be a setup issue - does it sound a bit "sitar-y" ? 

richardhomer

Is it only noticeable when using gain? I have a similar issue use my Strat through the drive channel of my amp. Knocking the treble back on the amp cures it completely - it's as though it creates some kind of harmonic response that simply isn't musical.

Dialling the high-end back in with the presence control restores the brightness, without the weird overtones coming back.

sidewinderwhy

Cheers for all your replies.

Come to think of it there is a 'sitarey' sort of sound. Was finding it hard to describe but it's definitely in that ballpark esp when unamplified. 

Will also have a go when I get a chance later on using some heavy amp gain or a distortion pedal and see if I get the same issue/ cure as @richardhomer ;

JezWynd

Might be worth checking that all the saddle leg screws are tight with the bridge plate. If one or more is loose then they will vibrate. A bit of nail polish will hold them in place and keep them secure.

Roland

It could be that the first and 12th frets are a bit low (or 2nd and 13th are high) and you're hearing the sound of the string vibrating against the fret.

drwiddly

Sounds like it may be a bit of zing from a high fret. I'd look at getting a pro set up with a fret dress before changing saddles.

57Deluxe

/\  /\  yes, sounds like a high fret. Just fret the string in each position and see where it goes dead. It won't be in every position! You need to tweak the neck - not raise the saddles to clear this or take the high fret down with a fret file or dress it with light emery.

DulcetJones

JezWynd said:

Might be worth checking that all the saddle leg screws are tight with the bridge plate. If one or more is loose then they will vibrate. A bit of nail polish will hold them in place and keep them secure.

I've had something like this when one saddle screw is set lower than the other, causing one to "float" above the surface and allowing it to vibrate because there's no tension on it to keep it from moving.  This also happens with the saddles on my Mustang.  I now check them first whenever I get a hint of this starting to happen, usually adjusting them so they're even and both tightly supporting the string takes care of it.  I'm not going to use anything like nail polish or glue because I'm afraid I'll lose the ability to make adjustments.

markj

I replaced the fender bridge like yours on my tele for a brass 3 saddle bridge by Callaham. It doesn't come cheap but is the only bridge made specifically to replace the modern bridge fender fit on there telecasters. It was well worth it.

markj

A quick check on his website.Its £142, expensive but I thought it was worth it. I think I paid about £110 early last year. It made the American standard tele sound more of a traditional sounding tele it cut out a lot of the shrillness that I wasn't that keen on. Later sold the guitar and bought a AV64 reissue.

markj

If I knew how to put the link up about when I swapped the bridge on this forum I would.

streethawk

markj said:

I replaced the fender bridge like yours on my tele for a brass 3 saddle bridge by Callaham. It doesn't come cheap but is the only bridge made specifically to replace the modern bridge fender fit on there telecasters. It was well worth it.

Joe Barden does a similar bridge. It has 4 mounting holes instead of 3 but the two outside one's line up perfectly with the existing fender ones, so you just have to drill two more.
I read that the compensated saddles need a bit of fettling for the standard tele string spacing too. But it's cheaper than Callaham, and Barden bridges sound great. 

I haven't stocked them because most people probably couldn't be bothered drilling etc. But i'd certainly use one myself.

rico

I would get this in to a decent tech for a fret skim, dress and set-up. It can transform a guitar. 

jaygtr

I'm not sure what I think of swapping a 6 saddle bridge to a 3 saddle one. 

To me it seems if you have to, then you've probably bought the wrong model in the first place.